Twitter Tantrums
Reviewed by Momizat on
Dec 04.
Written by Amber Wibbenmeyer. Media by Kelsey Middleton. Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, is one of the first presidents to actively reachWritten by Amber Wibbenmeyer. Media by Kelsey Middleton. Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, is one of the first presidents to actively reach
Rating: 0

Twitter Tantrums

Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, is one of the first presidents to actively reach out to the population using social media. Trump has a Twitter account that has 44 million followers, so the amount of people who see his tweets is pretty extensive.

Trump’s Twitter. Source: Donald Trump Twitter

So, how does Trump use this platform? Does he use it to comment on important events in the news? Does he share his condolences with grieving families after a tragedy? Yes, he does, and this is of large importance, and should not be ignored. Trump made many tweets thanking Veterans this past Veteran’s Day. He also shares his progress while he is visiting other countries. These things are very useful and helpful for some citizens who lack the traditional ways of getting news. Trump is trying to fit the times by using social media to reach masses, and it’s working.

Source: Donald Trump Twitter

Along with his informational tweets, his followers get quite a few tweets that make them wonder. They wonder if the president of the United States actually wrote that tweet. One recent example of this is a tweet that Trump made on November 11 which said, “Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me ‘old,’ when I would NEVER call him ‘short and fat?’ Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend – and maybe someday that will happen!”

This tweet was written and made public to 44 million people from all over the world by the man that runs our country. This tweet sounds like something a young girl would say about a classmate that she doesn’t get along with. It is full of passive-aggression and just comes across as immature.

Trump also uses his Twitter to share important updates on decisions he has made and plans to put into effect. This is, as stated before, a very useful thing in many cases, but the character limit makes it very hard to explain everything in a convenient way. This can cause an uproar in some situations. One example of this is when Trump used his Twitter account to announce the ban of transgender people to serve in the military, “After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow…Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming… victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you.”

These few tweets caused a lot of backlash because, for many people, this was the first we heard of this ban. People who love their country were suddenly not able to serve in the military anymore. Due to the character limTwitter twitter has, there was little context or explanation as to why this decision was made. This was not the way to make this announcement, not with such little context.

Donald Trump is doing something that very few have done before, using social media to keep the citizens informed. This is something that is very useful in the digital age, and he is getting his words out to many people quickly, but should he be using it as freely as he has been? He’s making comments like the ones listed above, being petty toward leaders of another country, and making grand announcements that affect a large portion of the population with limited context or explanation. Trump is trying to bring peace to the world, and make America great again, but is this the way?